United Nations
Children in rural areas are nearly twice as likely to be underweight as those in urban areas Ratio between the proportion of under-five children who are underweight in rural areas and urban areas, 1990 and 2008
In some regions, the prevalence of underweight children is dramatically higher among the poor Proportion of under-five children who are underweight, by household wealth, around 2008 (Percentage) 70
Southern Asia Developing regions Sub-Saharan Africa Northern Africa CIS, Asia
60
Southern Asia 1.3 1.4 South-Eastern Asia 1.4 1.2 Sub-Saharan Africa 1.5 1.4 Northern Africa 1.7 1.5 Latin America & the Caribbean 2.0 2.4 Western Asia 2.1 2.5 Eastern Asia 2.1
Around 1990 Around 2008 Parity
50
40
30
20
10 4.8
Developing regions 1.7 1.9 0.0
1.0
0 2.0
3.0
4.0
Poorer 20%
Middle 20%
Richer 20%
Richest 20%
5.0
Rural children disadvantaged
In all developing regions, children in rural areas are more likely to be underweight than children living in cities and towns. In parts of Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean, the relative disparity actually increased between 1990 and 2008. In Eastern Asia, there was a striking increase in the rural/ urban ratio (from 2.1 to 4.8), indicating that, in 2008, children in rural areas were almost five times as likely to be underweight as children in urban areas. This region, however, has already achieved the target—in both rural and urban areas—of halving the 1990 underweight prevalence: only 2 per cent of children in urban areas are underweight, versus 9 per cent of rural children. South-Eastern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Northern Africa have succeeded in reducing child malnutrition more rapidly in rural areas and in narrowing the gap with the urban population, demonstrating that more equitable progress is indeed possible.
14
Poorest 20%
Across the developing world, children from the poorest households are twice as likely to be underweight as children from the richest households. The disparity is most dramatic in regions with a high prevalence of underweight children. This is the situation in Southern Asia, where as many as 60 per cent of children in the poorest families are underweight, compared to about 25 per cent in the richest households.